The Next Steps? We’re going to Need Some Information about Your Current Plan:

We will need to gather information about your current retirement plan to help insure that the plan has been operated in accordance with IRS and ERISA regulations. This review takes just a few days once we have received your information. Once the plan has been approved for transfer into The Platinum 401k program, we will jointly establish a plan design review and pre-enrollment meeting scheduling with your internal human resources or employee benefits team members.

To join The Platinum 401k program as an adopting employer, contact your investment advisor or call us at 800.585.7540. You can also email us at Info@ThePlatinum401k.com.

The decision to outsource your retirement plan to experienced industry professionals should be pretty straightforward. Either you want to retain total flexibility and responsibility (and liability) for plan oversight, or you’ve decided you would rather hand off almost all of the fiduciary duties and liability to a third party. Once that decision has been made, the next decision – who best to take over these duties – is equally important. We think this is where we have a huge advantage over the rest of the industry.

The Platinum 401K is unique in its ability to have brought the first multi-provider solution to the 401k Outsourcing marketplace. Our annual recurring plan revenue – which is fully disclosed in the personalized proposal we generate for your plan – is identical regardless of which provider is selected. We also rebate back all recurring “revenue sharing” as a credit against our annual asset based compensation fees. This strategy lowers your costs and increases your plan returns. Where it’s contractually possible, we will simply carve out” all revenue sharing fees completely. Your custom plan proposals will provide complete details and additional information that you should read carefully.

We were also the first program of our type in the country to utilize a CEFEX-Certified 3(38) Investment Manager on a multiple employer plan of this type. The Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX) is an independent global assessment and certification organization. They work closely with investment fiduciaries and industry experts to provide comprehensive assessment programs to improve risk management for institutional and retail investors. CEFEX certification helps determine the trustworthiness of investment fiduciaries. This is an important point of differentiation that you and your employees need to fully appreciate. The annual CEFEX audit of fiduciary practices of the Investment Manager provides a high level of confidence and protection for the plan and the participants.

Finally, we are industry leaders in terms of both experience and expertise in these types of programs. When the U.S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council sought input on Outsourcing Employee Benefit Plan Services in 2014, The Platinum 401k CEOTerrance Power was asked to provide expert testimony before the group in Washington, D.C.

The findings of the Council have already led to several bipartisan legislative proposals in Congress that are expected to greatly expand the availability and benefits of these types of programs across the country.

We look forward to continuing to work with our supporters and friends in Washington to help broaden retirement plan coverage for working Americans. Read More…

This document explained the Department of Labor’s position, at that time, on the use of multiple employer plans as they relate to companies who did not have any specific commonality or nexus that would otherwise tie them together.

It did not change the Internal Revenue Code Section 413(c) one bit, nor did it appear to change the position of the Internal Revenue Service on these types of programs. It did require multiple employer plan adopters to file individual Form 5500’s, incur the cost for an individual annual plan audit as required under current regulations, and to possess an ERISA bond for their portion of the plan.

Perhaps a walk down memory lane might offer some perspective as to why the Advisory Opinion was issued in the manner in which it was.

In April 2012, noted “fiduciary expert” and multiple employer plan proponent Matthew Hutcheson was indicted on charges of stealing millions of dollars from a multiple employer plan that he oversaw (Hutcheson was eventually found guilty and sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for his crimes in 2013). The DOL issued a press release on June 14, 2012 (two weeks after the Advisory Opinion 2012-04A was released) announcing that they had obtained an injunction against Hutcheson relating to ERISA violations surrounding that case. They were right to do so.

Why is this timeline important? Clearly, during the time that the DOL was considering attorney Robert Toth’s request for a favorable opinion from them, the entire Hutcheson mess came to light…..and had the kneejerk effect of creating an “all multiple employer plans are bad” reaction from the DOL.

While on the surface, this could appear to be a rational reaction to the theft of millions and millions of dollars from plan participants.

A deeper dive into the Department of Labor’s own records of enforcement from their website, however, show much greater problems with operational compliance and theft occurring from single employer defined contribution and defined benefit plans when compared to multiple employer plan by an enormous margin.

It’s not even close. It’s not the plan structure that led to the theft, it was the criminal who was running the plan. Read More...

The process of choosing a 401K investment manager depends on the plan so as the services to be given. Choosing the best retirement plan may result to either retiring happy or working longer than you should be. Selecting the best 401K administrator is a very important aspect in this process. Typically, a 401K plan is being governed by the employer.

In majority of cases, the employers assign a certain 401K plan administrator who will take care of the entire plan, looking over all employees or plan members who invested with the available retirement plan. Most of the 401K plan administrator contracts have expiration dates. Thus, if the retirement plan is not meeting the expectations, the employer has the right to look for a replacement firm, which of course, should perform much better.

Majority of the investment management firms have a section of the business devoted to 401K plan administration. One excellent method of searching for an appropriate 401K plan manager is looking in the region where the company or business is based. Nowadays, there are a lot of firms that offer 401K investment management service.

The internet is an explicit source for searching such firms just is entering certain keywords, like money manager, investment manager, or 401K plan provider. Another great trick to find the soundest 401K manager is to see the company or companies that majority of successful 401K plans are utilizing as their 401 plan provider for example http://www.theplatinum401k.com/.

Most of the private and public retirement plans divulge the portfolio of their plan at someplace. Typically, a public plan will showcase the investment managers who are engaged by the plan on their site, specifically through a yearly reported which is posted on the website. Aside from that, usually, the investment performance is outlined in these reports.

Therefore, by scrutinizing the returns and the company that is managing the plan, business owners can have a better view of what they should look for a 401K manager. The private retirement plans normally do not show their investment manager relationships on their site. However, in some locations, private retirement plans are mandated to file with the regulatory authority on a yearly basis; they should give some disclosures regarding the investment of the offered plan.

When choosing 401K managers, the fees must be considered. Depending on the retirement plan’s size, fee structures may vary from one 401K plan manager to another. There are times whereby the fees serve as the deciding factor, but it is typically a combination of costs and investment performance, and these are what lead the selection process.

There are as well times whereby the 401K manager or provider will negotiate fees to capture the interest of the business. Before making a final decision and finalize the selection process, business owners should allot time in interviewing prospect candidates, as well as gather historical information, especially about fees and performances. These will help company and business owners in selecting the soundest 401K investment manager.